


The New RA

by SomeBratInAMask



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Capes, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-10 21:56:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeBratInAMask/pseuds/SomeBratInAMask
Summary: Dick just stared. He couldn’t believe it. It was like that phenomenon where he’d learn a word he had never heard before and suddenly there that word was, in regular use on billboards and in books and from people’s mouths. Dick had never seen Jason before in his life, but suddenly he was everywhere: in the halls, in classes, in basements, and most of all, in his head. Jason Todd was a phenomenon.Dick Grayson is a willfully broke college student who's just learning the ropes of adulthood. Jason Todd is his new RA. The two sure do run into each other a lot.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hellllo! I originally was thinking these would just be drabbles so I posted the first two chapters [funny little AU list I found on Tumblr.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7998109/chapters/40812665>in%20my%20DC%20anthology</a>,%20but%20I%20noticed%20the%20chapters%20were%20hitting%20the%202k-4k%20mark,%20so%20I%20figured,%20what%20the%20hey,%20I'll%20put%20them%20in%20their%20own%20story.%20%0A%0AEach%20chapter%20is%20based%20off%20this%20<a%20href=) It's pretty informal so I'll be updating at my leisure.
> 
> A special thank you to Slifer for help with logistics in future chapters and just, like, having fun with it.

_> >My boyfriend just told me he’s coming over, but I’m still at the store. If he knocks, please let him in. I’ll be there soon. _

_< <kk_

_< <bring frootloops pls_

_> >Okay. _

Dick still wasn’t sure how he felt about Tim. At eighteen, he seemed to have his life together better than Dick as he was at twenty-two. Which, objectively speaking, made for a fantastic roommate and the reason why Dick responded with gusto when Tim answered his roommate-needed flyer. However, it also made Dick incredibly insecure about his own status as an adult.

Dick liked to think he was improving Tim’s life too, though. For example, Bruce sent them a mini-fridge so they wouldn’t have to go to the mess hall every day for cereal. Dick had been tempted to send it back initially, prove he didn’t need help but Tim, being a Mature Adult, suggested that necessary kitchen appliances were maybe not the hill to die on.

Also, Tim sometimes would bring Dick’s laundry down with him when he didn’t have a full load. Which was most days because Tim didn’t go out much. Dick had super lucked out.

Dick looked at the time; he had quite a few hours on his hands before he got too tired to do anything but play video games. Saturdays without parties were always so boring. He had already been to the gym twice and gotten brunch with Wally. The only thing left to do was homework.

Tim had worked on his homework for four hours straight this morning. The thought was motivation enough for Dick to pad over to his backpack and open his textbook. He went to great pains dusting crumbs off his small desk and setting up shop with a notebook, two pencils, a calculator, and a Yoohoo! from the fridge. Dick was now ready to screw around on Reddit for an hour.

Or maybe he should make the room nice for Tim’s boyfriend. They might be kicking him out tonight, although probably not because Tim had that tired look on his face when he left earlier. Actually, that was his face now that Dick thought about it. Well, if they _did_ kick him out, it would show just how worthy a roommate Dick was if he made the room properly suitable for a romantic evening.

Dick set his phone on top of his textbook and began making his bed. Then he fixed Tim’s, too, because he also kind of sucked at cleaning up after himself. He Febrezed his bed, Tim’s bed, their hampers, the carpet, and then the air itself for good measure. He collected three of Tim’s used coffee mugs, some still with liquid in them, and jogged down to the mess hall where he cleaned them with a gross-looking sponge and citrus-y dish soap.

When he returned his floor, he noticed a man knocking on it. Tim had described his boyfriend as “kind of tall with broad shoulders and black hair.” (Dick had encouragingly responded, “woof.”) The man knocking certainly matched that description, although the leather jacket and the white streak in his bangs were not what he pictured.

“Hey!” Dick greeted, grinning from ear to ear. Time to make a stellar first impression.

“Oh,” said the man, letting his fist drop and back away from the door. “Uh, hey.”

Still smiling, Dick opened the door and set the mugs down on Tim’s desk. “Come on in. Don’t be shy,” he said. He even threw in a wink to be friendly, show him that there was no need for that initial awkwardness that always seemed to exist between strangers. “Tim will be back soon, he’s just getting us some groceries.

The stranger lingered by the door, looking strangely at him. _Hm_. Maybe Dick had overdone the friendliness. It would make more sense, now that he though about it, if Tim’s man was the reserved type. Tim had that energy about him, really.

“Seriously,” said Dick and ushered him in. The stranger was still looking at him kind of weirdly, but he reluctantly came inside. He slowly shut the door behind him, watching as it clicked into place. Dick laughed. “Oh please, I don’t bite,” he assured.

To Dick’s surprise, Tim’s boyfriend smiled. The fact he smiled wasn’t surprising, but the way he did was – it looked tense, like it didn’t belong on his face but Boyfriend realized it probably should’ve. “Alright,” said Dick after an uncomfortable pause, as if to acknowledge the tension.

Boyfriend nodded once sharply. “Right. Well, I’m Jason,” he introduced, touching his chest. “I just thought I’d stop by and – ”

Dick thought to grab a beer from the fridge. “Sit!” he said pleasantly, motioning towards Tim’s bed. He turned around, beer in hand, to find Jason standing still with his mouth ajar. Dick closed the distance to hand him the beer. Jason was taller than “kind of” and definitely beautiful. Dick felt a pang of sadness that he was off the market.

Upon Dick handing him the beer, Jason finally sat down and seemed to at least try to make himself comfortable. He popped the can and took a gulp. A long gulp. A chug, really. Dick smiled. “Wow,” he said. “Looking to let loose tonight, Jason?” he asked with a small laugh. Oh yeah, Tim was definitely putting a sock on the door tonight. Dick didn’t care how tired Tim always was, there was no way he’d go any longer without it with a boyfriend that smoking. Jason’s eyes were a smoldering blue set in a tan, sculpted face. Dick watched his Adam’s apple bob with the beer and was more than a little mesmerized by his lips when Jason wiped the beer from them with his arm.

Dick got himself a beer because why not and sat on his bed opposite Jason. Dick took a swig and smiled politely. He watched as Jason finished his beer in record time. He slammed the empty can down on Tim’s desk before springing to his feet. Within a second Jason was on him.

Dick’s legs parted instinctively to allow Jason between them. The leather jacket slid against his bare arms as Jason leaned over him on the bed. He tasted of beer and smelled of spice. His first thought was that Jason’s lips were very fluff and very soft. His second was that this was _very_ wrong.

Trying not to spill his beer, Dick pushed Jason off with one arm. As beautiful – and intense – as Jason was, Dick’s goal was to be a _good_ roommate. Making out with his roommate’s boyfriend while his roommate bought him cereal just didn’t fit the etiquette, unfortunately. “As flattered as I want to be,” Dick began. Before he could finish his sentence, Jason was walking backwards towards the door. “You know I have to tell Tim about this, right?” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Jason said, and admittedly he did look contrite. His eyes were blown wide and his cheeks were reddening. He had his hands shoved in his pockets as he literally backtracked. “I just thought, when you invited me in and gave me a beer – ”

Alarms blared in Dick’s head. Was Jason going to try to pin this on _him?_ “Oh, hey, now,” Dick said, standing up, “I was just trying to be cool.”

Jason’s expression went from penitent to disbelieving. His hands were still in his pockets and when he lifted them, the jacket parted and lifted with them. His plain back t-shirt fit snugly and Dick could kick himself for thinking that. “You _asked_ me if I wanted to _‘let loose,’_ ” quoted Jason.

Dick shook his head. _“No_ , no, I asked if you were _going_ to let loose. Like, with Tim.”

Jason appeared stunned by this. _“What?”_ was all he said, brows pinched in confusion.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Dick’s heart plunged into his stomach. That had to be Tim carrying the groceries. “That’s Tim,” he informed, pointing to the door. “And I’m telling him what you did.”

“Why does he need to know?” Jason asked, which was just incredible, what kind of _asshole_ did Tim date?

Dick blew past him and opened the door. Instead of Tim, however, stood a tall man with broad shoulders, black hair, and blue eyes. He was wearing a Superman shirt with a boyish smile. “Hey,” he said with a small wave. He glanced questioningly between Dick and Jason. “I’m Conner, Tim’s boyfriend – he did mention I was visiting, right?” he asked.

Dick clucked his tongue. His hand dropped from the doorknob. He felt his breath had been stamped out of him. “Yes, he did,” Dick murmured. _Okay, one problem at a time._

He looked at Jason. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. His tone held more honest confusion than genuine anger.

“Jason,” Jason repeated like this should’ve explained everything. “Your new RA for the semester. I was stopping by each room to introduce myself.”

Dick cocked his head. “Huh,” he said. He didn’t break eye contact with Jason as he said, “Come in, Conner. There’s beer in the fridge. We have Netflix. Make yourself at home.”

Conner entered as Dick walked out into the hallway. Jason followed him out. Dick closed the door and stood in front of it. His mind was putting the pieces together. “So. You’re Jason, the RA and he’s Conner, my roommate’s boyfriend.”

Jason nodded. “And you’re Dick,” he contributed, “the aptly-named asshole who put moves on me and then freaked out when I took you up on them.”

Another guy in their hall was eyeing them strangely as he passed. Dick sighed, suddenly world-weary. _Alright, let’s try this again._ He mustered up another charming smile. “I think this has just been a funny misunderstanding.”

 _“So_ funny,” Jason deadpanned. “Let’s just forget this happened.”

“Deal,” Dick agreed eagerly. He turned around and heard the sound of Jason starting to say something else, so he hurriedly opened the door and shut it behind him.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t important enough for Jason to follow up on because he detected Jason’s footsteps retreating. Conner, meanwhile, was lying down on Tim’s bed watching some anime with excessive shouting. He had both a beer and one of Dick’s Yoohoo!’s open.

Dick stood by the bed and Conner looked up. “Hey, what was that all about?”

Dick stared straight ahead at the TV and tried to guess which anime this was based on Tim’s history. “Accused my RA of cheating on your boyfriend,” he answered. On the screen, a bald guy in yellow pajamas was eating ramen now.

“Oh,” said Conner. “Okay.”

Dick was grateful when Tim opened the door that second. “Hey, guys,” said Tim, balancing overstuffed bags in his arms, “you two find stuff to talk about?”


	2. Chapter 2

Dick preferred front row seats wherever he went: concerts, movie theaters, games, medieval jousts, niche campus protests, absolutely any interaction between Bruce and Damian, drama between strangers at a party, and – classes. He made it a point to arrive early to every class so he could stake a claim to a desk in the front row. His notes were always better, it was harder for him to be distracted, and the professor called on him a lot more.

            His ethics course met on Mondays and Wednesdays and although it was easy, it was still fun. Professor Prince went out of her way to engage students; the essay assignments were genuinely thought-provoking and class discussions maintained an atmosphere of both genuine interest and mutual respect. The only downside was that she never assigned group work, which was Dick’s favorite aspect of every class. So when she finally offered the choice of working on an upcoming project individually or in groups, Dick’s hand went flying in the air to offer his opinion.

            Professor Prince motioned to him and Dick lowered his arm. “I think if we work in groups, we’ll be able to cover a lot more of the material as a class during presentations. Plus, what are ethics without societies, right? People come together to debate and decide upon what’s right and wrong, our moral codes depend on our relations to each other.”

            “That’s an excellent point,” Professor Prince praised. “Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll start assigning groups and everyone can spend the last,” she glanced at the clock on the wall, “half hour deciding which way you’ll argue.” She picked up the roster and began writing the main topics of their current chapter with student names beneath them.

            Someone in the back asked a question. “Can we argue differently from our group? Show both sides of the argument?” The voice was a man’s that struck Dick as vaguely familiar. Dick twisted around in his seat but couldn’t figure out from which end of the room the question had originated.

            Professor Prince was still writing down names. “I don’t see why not, so long as your group agrees to it.” Dick’s name paired with two other names he didn’t recognize beneath the term _death penalty._ Already everyone was glancing around the room searching for faces they could pin to names.

            It seemed Professor Prince was doing groups of four. The last name added to Dick’s group was _Jason Todd._ Dick instantly thought back to his RA, embarrassment threatening the corners of his mind. Before he could forcefully push the memory out of his head, though, the voice of the kid behind him crashed into the name with full force.

            Dick’s head whipped around. He scanned the ascending rows of students who were standing up and beginning to mingle. If he hadn’t been searching, he wouldn’t have found Jason Todd in the far right seat in the last row, hunched over and scribbling furiously in his notebook. He was wearing the same leather jacket that brushed against Dick’s arms last weekend.

            Dick wondered if Jason, too, knew he had ethics class with the guy who came on too strong that Saturday. Which one of them came on too strong? Dick probably had some fault in this situation. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had accidentally slept with someone.

            “Please tell me you’re Richard Grayson.”

            Dick breaks his bewildered stare to respond to the girl. She has long brown hair and doe eyes. He laughs and holds out a hand for her to shake. “Yeah, that’s me.” He glances at the whiteboard. The only other name is also a guy’s. “Are you Allie?”

            “Yeah. Should I – ” Allie points her backpack to the chair next to him. Dick looks back to the top row where Jason has not made a move to get up.

            “Actually, I think we should meet up with Jason over there. It doesn’t look like he’s budging.” Dick and Allie exchanged an amused expression but neither was going to enter a stand-off on principle. They began the trek up the stairs, collecting their fourth partner David along the way.

            Jason’s look when the three of them sit beside him is truly imposed upon. When Jason made eye contact with Dick, his face tightened but there was no hint of surprise. So either Jason noticed him for the first time at the beginning of this class, or he had known of Dick before the dorm awkwardness.

            _Awesome._

            The group introduced themselves. Dick had a few ideas milling about his head for the project but before he could voice them, Jason was passing down his notebook and outlining how he thought they should design the presentation.

            “Wow,” Dick said, waiting for David to pass the notebook to him. “You’re fast, huh,” he observed.

            “Yeah, I think we should do it like this,” David declared.

            “Yeah, me too,” said Allie.

            “Well, hold on, I haven’t seen his ideas yet,” Dick interjected. On cue, David passed him the notebook. Jason’s handwriting was meticulous and uniform to the point it almost looked typed. The organization checked out. Jason had written “Person 1” and “Person 2” and so on next to each aspect of the death penalty to delve into. There was definite flow and if this was a debate team, it had good bones for winning.

            Dick looked past the classmates between them and straight at Jason. “Where are the points against the death penalty?” He was sure it was an oversight on Jason’s part, that he was getting to the next side when they all sat down.

            Jason shrugged. “Couldn’t think of any.”

            “You couldn’t think of any?” Dick repeated.

            “That’s what I said.”

            Allie chimed in. “I mean, we don’t have to include both sides, I’m pretty sure. I don’t think it matters.”

            Dick cut a sharp glance at her. “Tell that to the people on death row,” he challenged. He immediately regretted it when Allie straightened up as if to pull away.

            Jason adjusted in his chair so his knees were angled towards Dick. He was the picture of ease, which wasn’t fair, because Dick didn’t feel at ease whatsoever across from him. “Look, the professor said we don’t have to cover the same side of the argument. If you want to throw a few slides in for why the death penalty is bad, you should.”

            “Oh, I’m free to throw a few slides in?” Dick said too quickly to reel in the sarcasm. Why hadn’t Jason approached him sooner? Was he mad Dick rejected him? This was a conflict of interest. “I think your bias is showing,” Dick threw down.

            Both David and Allie’s spines were flush against their chairs now. “Because I didn’t include the opposite argument in an outline I made in less than three minutes? You’re the one getting worked up. Maybe you’ve got a bias, Dick,” Jason fired back.

            David laughed uncomfortably. “Hey, guys, let’s not name-call.”

            “That’s his name,” Jason said at the same time Dick said, “That’s my name.”

            “Oh,” murmured Allie. “You go by that.”

            “Maybe you’re right,” Dick conceded. “Maybe I don’t want to be a part of a presentation that expounds upon the merits of taking lives legally. Ethics class or not, it’s disturbing. I mean, it’s not like we’re doing – ” Dick read off a term from the white board, “Rehabilitation.” Dick winced. That sounded pretty important, too, actually.

            “Would you calm down?” Jason asked. “We’re not on jury duty, okay, we’re not literally sending murderers to their deaths here. Although, it’s good to know that if we were, you’d be set to let the Joker walk free.”

            Dick officially did not feel bad about slamming the door in Jason’s face anymore. “Not _free,”_ he corrected, “just alive.”

            “He’s out of Arkham every other news segment,” Jason exaggerated and waved a hand in the air. “The only way to stop scum like that is to put them down.”

            Dick’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t help it. “And you’re in charge of my dormmates’ well-being, huh? That’s going to work out super well; you’re _so compassionate.”_

“Uh, I’m going to go,” announced Allie, and so she did, grabbing her books and squeezing by David and Dick.

            “Is everything alright?” Professor Prince asked from closer than Dick expected. He didn’t dare break Jason’s intense glare though. He was only half-sure he was capable of looking away if he _wanted_ to. Jason’s eyes burned like rope around his wrists.

            “Everything’s fine, sorry, Professor,” replied Dick while Jason said, “I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m pretty sure it’s with _me_ for whatever reason you’ve got bouncing around in that bobble head of yours.”

            “That’s egotistical of you,” noted Dick.

            Then Professor Prince was standing right by Dick’s shoulder. Jason and Dick broke away simultaneously to acknowledge the woman standing tall with her – shocking muscular, how was Dick just noticing this? – arms crossed against her chest. “It appears this argument has crossed over into the personal. I’m going to have to ask you two to leave so the rest of the class can be productive.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Jason mumbled. He was rapidly gathering his stuff.

            Dick hadn’t unpacked his bag and so he simply swung it over his shoulder. “My apologies,” he told her, hoping he came off earnest. “It won’t happen again.”

            Professor Prince stepped to the side to allow them passage. “If it does, you know where to take it.” She pointed to the door.

            Dick nodded. “Right.” He ducked his head in shame but managed not to scurry out lest he seem _too_ scolded. Outside the classroom, he was tempted to head to the student center but decided to hang back instead. Dick’s temper tended to run more cool than hot and he was only a few steps away when he began to regret the escalation. So he leaned against the wall and waited until Jason had emerged.

            Jason did not look nearly as calm. His brows were still pulled taut in angry slashes over his stormy eyes. He actually trudged right past Dick, his knuckles turning white over his backpack.

            Dick pushed himself off the wall and hurried after. “Hey,” he said, “can we talk?”

            _“Again?”_

            “Would it sweeten the pot if I told you I was apologizing?” Dick tried.

            “Thank you for the apology,” Jason said curtly.

            “Okay,” said Dick, taking it in stride. Apologies were rarely comfortable for the apologizer. “I want you to know that I don’t actually care about the death penalty thing.” Dick grimaced. “Well, okay, I do care a lot actually and would love some day to talk to you about your views –” Jason made a pained noise, so Dick skipped over that part, “But anyway, that’s not an urgent thing. I’m just saying that though I think it’d be a mistake for you to send even the Joker to his deathbed, I wouldn’t think you’re a bad _person_ for doing so.”

            Jason stopped walking and gave him a disbelieving look. “You said you were apologizing, not giving me your hypothetical blessing.”

            “I can do both.”

            _“No,_ because now it’s like _you’re_ forgiving _me_ for something that is literally never going to happen but I’m still at fault for.”

            Dick had to taken a quiet moment to consider that. He didn’t like how Jason was putting him through the ringer here, but he was doing his best to sympathize and Dick could maybe see how his approach was off. He inhaled deeply. “Okay,” he said for a second time. Resetting. “You’re right. But I’m not done yet.”

            “Seriously?” Jason said, but Dick could tell the anger was draining out of him. Dick smiled, appreciating the pout that was absolutely forming on Jason’s lips.

            “I’m also sorry for slamming the door in your face,” he finally said. Jason looked away, which was comforting because it meant he was flustered over it too. “I stand by that I 100% was not hitting on you, but my bedside manner afterwards could’ve been gentler.” And because Dick’s mouth was its own trolley problem, he tacked on, “I know it’s not easy to be rejected by me.”

            Jason’s mouth parted to say something when he closed it and walked off, leaving Dick to stand there and admire his own wit. “It was a joke!” he called after, but he let Jason be.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to elwon for proofreading this chapter, showing it some love, and suggesting Jason just, you know, have a lot of lube on hand.

Dick was in a crisis; Tim had been going out almost every day with Conner and had a full load of laundry the past two weeks. Dick, who hadn’t done laundry in a month, resorted to leaving clothes on the floor surrounding the overstuffed hamper. It was time to bite the bullet.

Dick bent down, picking up shirts and boxers and stray socks he was sure would go solo in the wash, and did his best to stuff them into the hamper. Then he tied the strap-handles together and swung the burden over his shoulder with a slight grunt. Fortunately, with the floor clear, his room was already looking like less of a disaster zone.

It was a little cumbersome opening the door, but Dick did manage without knocking anything over in the confined space of his dorm, so he counted it a victory. The trek downstairs was the most challenging part, as Dick had figured it would be. The weight on his back kept him off-balance and he couldn’t carry it in front of him because then he wouldn’t be able to see his feet. He was briefly tempted to send the hamper tumbling down and just clean up the mess afterwards, but then another student made eye contact with him on their way up and Dick didn’t want to be that jackass who turns laundry day into Boulder Dash.

The laundry room was tucked into an unfinished section of the basement. Dick felt the difference in temperature as soon as his feet hit the cement flooring. He breathed in the smell of laundry detergent and damp must as he entered. Three washers and three dryers stood side by side, all of them empty. “Jackpot,” he said aloud. Bending down, he untied his laundry straps and hefted it over a washer. He inserted a few coins and turned on the water, poured in the detergent, and shut the door. He headed back up to his dorm and set a timer for when to return.

He was throwing his wet laundry in the dryer when he noticed the cold water pipe leaking. The drip-drip-drop was getting on his nerves so he went over to the wall and tried turning it off with a swift crank. The leak increased so he turned it the way, but it got stuck. Dick applied some strength and – the knob came off in his hand. Water burst from pipe in a violent rush. “Oh, no,” he said. Frantically, he searched the room for duct tape to no avail. “Oh, no,” he said again.

He could fix this. He just needed duct tape and then he could alert the proper authorities that the knob was crap. He definitely had duct tape in his bedroom from when one the legs on his chair went wobbly. He hurried to his room, got the duct tape, and took the stairs down two at a time. There was a good inch of water on the floor near the washers. _“How?”_ he asked no one. God, perhaps.

Remembering the student he saw earlier, Dick closed the door behind him just so no one coming from the kitchen or whatever saw the water and made a bigger deal of it than need be. Dick’s shoes squelched in the growing puddle as he leaned over the washers and slapped some tape over the leak. And then some more tape, because this wasn’t exactly quality stuff.

He looked down at his wet shoes and wiggled his toes. He really hoped the school wouldn’t bill him for this. Maybe he shouldn’t even bring it up; just leave the knob on the washer and let someone else be the good Samaritan. Dick grimaced. That’d be a dick move. Then he laughed because his name.

His clothes weren’t done drying yet but he still needed to contact someone. He whipped out his phone to Google who that might be and call them except – he had no service. He sighed, stuffed the phone back in his pockets, and headed for the door so he could call someone upstairs. He tugged at this knob and – it got stuck. He tried harder. Nothing. He pushed and lifted it, twisted it this way and that, and even gave it a little jiggle. Zilch results.

Dick rested his forehead against the door. “Fuck,” he said softly with feeling.

He did wait a few minutes for the knob to change its mind. But after a while, it was clear his only option was to pound on the door like a maniac and scream for help. Meanwhile, the tape came off and water must’ve been leaking anyway because when Dick turned around the puddle had expanded to the dryers. He re-applied some tape and went back to screaming his head off.

Help did come in the form of heavy footsteps and a familiar voice that ground out the words, “Are you serious?”

Dick perked up. Thinking of Jason still made his cheeks heat up after a week and a half, but he still preferred him over someone he hadn’t already embarrassed himself in front of. Jason’s rescue saved Dick a lot of face, honestly. “Jason?” he asked as if he didn’t know. “It’s Dick,” he informed.

There’s the sound of a knob not turning. “Did you close this door?”

“Dick Grayson,” Dick clarified.

“Yeah, no one else goes by Dick, dick,” Jason replied. “You know there’s a sign literally right in front of my face, eye-level, that reads, ‘Do not close door.’”

Dick was rethinking his earlier gratefulness. Could Jason make this any harder? “Yeah, I know, I can read.”

 _“Can_ you?” asked Jason. “Because you closed the door.”

“There were extenuating circumstances,” said Dick.

Jason jiggled the door. “Pray tell,” he said.

Dick glanced around the room at the water that was now leaking through the paper-thin tape. “There’s some water,” he supplied.

“What – are you speaking in code right now? Am I supposed to freaking decode what the shit you’re saying?”

All gratefulness had officially left Dick’s body. He laid a hand on the door and tried not to sound sarcastic in case Jason decided to abandon him – which was seeming increasingly realistic as Jason proved his ability to kick a man when he’s already down. “Could you just – get me out of here? _Please?”_

“Ugh,” groaned Jason as if he was the one trapped in a slowly flooding laundry room. “Yeah. Yeah! I’ll get you out. I have to run up to my room and get some Vaseline; the door’s jammed.”

Dick heard Jason’s footsteps as they hurried up the stairs. Before he got too far away, though, Jason called out, “Just stay there, alright?”

“Don’t be an ass,” shouted Dick. Jason’s laughter carried down the stairs and Dick smiled despite himself.

Dick did reapply the tape if only to make himself look less bad when the time finally came for Jason to see his shame. Jason returned fairly quickly and got to work on the door jam. This time when Jason turned the knob, the door opened with minimal resistance. Jason blinked owlishly at the scene. “What the fuck did you do in here?” he asked incredulously.

Dick threw up his arms. “Mostly laundry!” he defended. “The handle fell off – ”

“On its own?”

“It had some help. After that, it kept spouting from this tear _– that,_ I had nothing to do with – so I tried duct taping it. But the tape just keeps wearing off every minute,” explained Dick.

Jason pointed behind them. “And the door?”

Dick folded his arms and lifted his chin. “I didn’t want anyone to pass by, see this, and make a big deal out of a tiny leak.”

Jason shook his head wildly. “Your _shoes_ are wet. There is water _everywhere.”_

Dick inspected his feet, lifting them up one at a time. The water had reached his socks, which was mildly uncomfortable, but it wasn’t that bad. Dick had experience at the mansion because he _always_ got water on the floor after his showers and he _always_ would forget about it ten minutes later and go back in with socks on. “I mean, they’re not _great_ shoes. And it’s not as if the floor is carpeted, so it won’t stink,” he reasoned. He was almost feeling insecure when he noticed the bottle in Jason’s hand.

Dick pointed at where Jason held an economy-sized bottle of K-Y Jelly. “That’s not Vaseline,” he said.

Jason looked down at the bottle in his hand. Dick caught the slight flex in his jaw and the tinge of red dusting the tips of his ears. “It was all I had,” said Jason. His eyes snapped up like rubber bands to glare at Dick. “It got the job done, didn’t it?” he sneered.

Dick took a step back and held up his palms up in peace. “Hey, no shade on K-Y, it absolutely got the job done. I’m sure it gets the job done for you all the time, in fact – ”

Jason held up a hand in a signal to cut it out. “Alright, dickface, I got it. Next time you get yourself trapped in a freezer or the monkey enclosure, I’ll just keep walking, how about that?”

Jason turned around as if to leave but Dick stepped forward. “Wait, I’m sorry, but – what do I do with all this?” Dick gestured to the broken pipe and flooded floor.

Jason appeared at a loss for words for a few seconds. Eventually, however, he merely shook his head and said, “Alright. I’ve got keys to the supply closet with me; I’ll go get some stuff.”

Dick perked up. “Oh? That’s so professional. What other places do you have keys to?” Dick trotted after Jason, his shoes squelching with each step. “Dorms? Do you have, like, a skeleton key that grants you access to every dorm in this hall?”

The supply closet was in the kitchen. One other student was there with them, pouring himself a bowl of cereal. “Fruity pebbles,” Dick said, nodding. “Nice.”

The guy nodded back. “Thanks.”

Jason shoved a mop at Dick. “Hold this,” he commanded.

Dick twirled it like a baton until it nearly nailed Jason in the face. Jason smacked the mop away with a fierce glare. “I said _hold,”_ he reiterated, locking the closet back up. He had a roll of Gorilla Duct Tape in his hands. “Not razzle-dazzle.”

Inside the laundry room, Jason ripped off the layers of shitty tape Dick had applied. “Shit, that’s cold,” he griped as the water spouted over his hands. Meanwhile, Dick had never used a mop before and while he was definitely going to put his best foot forward, he did not fully believe that the mop was up to the task.

“So,” Dick said, watching Jason tape over the tear. “Mops. Do they actually work?”

Jason looked at him like he was stupid. “Excuse me?”

Dick shrugged, pushing the mop side to side. “Is this really going to soak up all the water?”

“Yeah, if you stay on it.”

Dick wondered how long this would take. “Will you keep me company?” he asked.

Jason’s response was hesitant, but it did come. “Well, can’t have you stealing my mop, so I guess.”

Dick grinned. “Sweet.”

Jason hoisted himself onto one of the washers and watched Dick mop. Occasionally, he’d say something annoying like “you missed a spot” but otherwise he didn’t go out of his way to make conversation. Dick enjoyed the silly jabs almost as much as he enjoyed how Jason’s eyes just stayed on him, never once flicking to his phone or wandering around the room. Maybe Jason was zoned out, but Dick preferred to think he knew he was staring.

Dick thought back to that day he had invited Jason over. Jason obviously was attracted to him. And Jason was obviously attractive and somehow single. Maybe it wasn’t the cutest first meeting, but Dick had put out for less. Logically speaking, there was no reason Dick _shouldn’t_ stop cleaning this very instant and straddle Jason’s thighs – aside from the fact that the room was still pretty wet, but the custodians had to have some water-vacuum anyway that would clean this problem much more efficiently.

Dick stayed where he was, mopping. The dryer announced it was finished with a loud buzz. Jason quirked his brow. “That yours?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Jason nodded. “I could – fold it if you want. Since you’re mopping,” he offered.

Dick didn’t fold his laundry and he immediately had this weird fantasy of Jason doing all his neglected household chores. “You just want a glimpse of my panties,” Dick teased.

Jason wasn’t looking at him anymore, which either meant he was offended or embarrassed probably. Dick hoped it was embarrassed. He was about to break the silence first when Jason finally, thankfully, did. “Panties?” he quoted, smirking at Dick. “That what you wear?”

Dick shrugged. He was game for some sexy banter at his expense. “Can’t give all my secrets away,” he equivocated. He had a few. None that he had worn this month and would be in the dryer. Although suddenly he wished there were and that Jason was folding them and Dick was wearing them too and Jason was tearing them. Laundry and sex were merging dangerously close in his fantasies right now.

Jason leaned back against the wall. Dick tried not to stare when Jason spread his legs haphazardly. “What secrets can you give away?”

Dick shifted the mop to his other hand. “Well, my secret talent isn’t mopping,” he hinted.

Jason snorted and then laughed, rubbing his face as he looked at Dick with amusement in his eyes. “No?” he asked as if this came as a surprise. “Are you going to tell me what _is_ your secret talent then?”

Dick let the mop drop to the floor and sauntered forward. He ran his palms over Jason’s thighs, digging his thumbs in near Jason’s lap. Dick cocked his head. “Now where’s the fun in telling?”

Jason’s jeans were down in seconds and Dick was bobbing his head on his cock. He sucked the red tip, feeling it harden and grow in his mouth. Encouraged, Dick went all the way down so his nose was nestled in Jason’s hair. Jason interrupted him quicker than Dick would’ve liked with a gentle tug to his hair. Dick pulled off enough so he could look up at Jason, his cock still resting against his lips.

“Question,” said Jason.

Dick mouthed Jason’s head before responding, “Answer?”

Jason smiled. “Do you take as good as you give?”

Dick didn’t know if that meant he was getting a blowjob first, or if he was being asked to bottom, or some third unclear possibility, but Dick was pretty sure he was down for whatever Jason might have in mind. Dick gave a long lick from the base of Jason’s dick to the crown. “Where’s the fun in telling?” he repeated, licking his lips.

Jason jumped down as Dick undid his jeans. Jason looked amused. “What?” said Dick.

Jason shook his head but still had a smug smile. “Nothing. You’re just eager.”

Dick opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. He opened it again. “Is this not the direction we were heading?” he said sheepishly.

“No. It was,” replied Jason, grin widening. He pulled his own pants back up and then patted the washer. “Hop on.”

Dick obeyed and sat where Jason had just been. The washer was cool against his bare thighs. It sent a chill up his spine that was made better by the tips of Jason’s fingers trailing from his knees to his hips. Jason moved closer, his legs pressing into the jeans bunched at Dick’s ankles, pinning him in place. Jason dipped his head, licking the dip of Dick’s throat and mouthing his Adam’s apple. He stayed like that until Dick’s eyes fluttered close and his head tilted backwards.

Jason got his attention by kissing his chin. Jason’s full lips were slowly forming a languid, dirty smile, like they had all the time in the world to touch each other like this. Like they weren’t getting messy in a flooded laundromat.

Jason leaned his forehead against Dick’s and stayed there, smiling and breathing hot on him. Dick went in for a kiss but Jason pulled his face away and winked. So, Dick tried again but Jason pulled away once again. “Uh-uh-uh,” he murmured.

“Oh, so you’re a tease,” surmised Dick so he could keep the pout off his face.

“Just having fun with you,” replied Jason, hooking his fingers into Dick’s boxer briefs and tugging roughly. Dick slid forward with the movement. He took the hint and lifted his hips, allowing Jason to pull his briefs down to his knees. Then Jason roughly yanked them to his ankles before settling himself between Dick’s legs, his cock resting over Jason’s stomach.

Finally, Jason’s mouth crashed over Dick’s, tongue tasting inside as he pumped Dick’s cock. Dick slid his hands up Jason’s shirt, caressing his skin as he found his way up his torso and to his defined pectorals. Jason leaned forward so Dick had to bend backwards but could rub Jason’s hardening nipples. Jason groaned and, oh, wasn’t that _adorable._

“Into that, huh?” Dick whispered. Jason nipped at Dick’s bottom lip in response, leaving a soft pain behind. Then Jason pulled away and Dick thought he was teasing again, but instead Jason retrieved the bottle of lubricant from the dyer top.

He waved the bottle at Dick. “Well?” he asked, eyebrows raised. Dick was now remembering the door and hoping to God it was not nearly as lubricated still as he was about to be. Dick nodded eagerly. Jason lightly smacked his hips and ordered, “Up.”

Dick hopped down as instructed but forgot the pants around his ankles and, to his dismay, did kind of teeter. Jason’s hand was instantly under his elbow, steadying him at the same time he spun him around. He squeezed Dick’s cheeks appreciatively, to which Dick nearly preened. Jason’s palm smoothed over Dick’s body, applying pressure on his spine until he was cupping the nape of his throat and guiding him down until Dick is completely prone over the washer. Jason set the lube next to Dick’s head, one hand firm on his back and the other reaching low to palm his balls.

He kissed the back of Dick’s neck. Dick reveled in how Jason’s breath glided over his sensitive ear as he whispered to him, “Pretty smooth down there, baby boy.” Dick grimaced a bit at the comment about his grooming, but he was pleased when Jason kissed the corner of his lips.

For the sake of playing along, Dick asked, “You like it?” He had had mixed reviews from his past partners. He did it for himself, was the thing, and he had grown to resent others’ opinions about the matter. His train of thought was interrupted by the sensation of cool, sticky fingers pushing into his hole. Dick inhaled sharply.

“Yeah,” answered Jason, dragging his teeth along the shell of Dick’s ear and pushing farther in. “I do.” He popped another finger in and twisted, wrenching a noise out of Dick’s throat that startled himself. It abruptly occurred to him how real this was, and how vulnerable he was, pants down and prostrating himself with someone he didn’t know all that way in a public room with only a shitty doorknob in the way of privacy.

And because Dick was Dick, his cock legitimately twitched at the thought as it pressed against the cool metal of the machine.

Jason proved daring with his dirty talk. “You’re such a good boy,” he remarked, adding another finger, “trying to clean up your mess.”

Dick wasn’t sure if he was more turned on by Jason’s tone or more embarrassed by his hack job at hiding the broken pipeline. Dick lifted his head and stared at the wall as Jason scissored and stretched him. There was a laminated sign explaining how to be a good neighbor in the laundry room. He had probably gone above and beyond in that department.

Dick had a thought to try out something. “Thank you for helping, daddy,” he said. If he blushed, well, his face is mostly hidden anyway.

It must have been the right thing to say because Jason spanked his ass hard enough to make Dick yelp. Jason’s fingers slid out easily and Dick agreed when he heard the sound of Jason’s belt unfastening. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jason pull a condom from his wallet. Soon Jason’s cock was pressed between Dick’s cheeks and Jason was sucking his neck again. “You ready, baby?” Jason asked.

Dick laughed breathily. He couldn’t imagine not being ready for Jason. Jason pinched his ass impatiently and the words _“yes, yes, daddy”_ tumbled from his mouth.

Dick experienced an embarrassingly brief moment wherein he realized how incredibly unwise this was, but then Jason was slowly sinking into him. Dick became wholly consumed by the feeling, his thoughts melting away with the heat of Jason. At one point, Dick let his head fall back on the washer, the chill on his cheek meshing with Jason’s hot hands on his hips and hard chest on his back.

“So,” Jason began as he pulled back just enough to bury himself again, slow and deep and good. “Fancy meeting you here,” he quipped in this deep, raspy voice that had Dick shuddering. Jason exhaled a low laugh as he planted kisses between Dick’s shoulders.

“And to think,” Dick managed to reply, even though it was getting difficult as his eyes closed in another wave of pleasure that made his head feel light. “And to think, we were hoping to never interact with each other again.” Outside the project, anyways, which was done exclusively online with so little communication it felt like a solo assignment.

“Please,” Jason scoffed. “I’m your RA. You’ll be seeing a lot of me whether you like it or not.” Jason had raised an implicit challenge, and Dick couldn’t resist those, so when Jason thrusted, Dick pushed his ass further onto his cock. Jason groaned. “Shit, yeah,” he mumbled.

“Well,” said Dick as Jason did his best to take him apart from the inside. “If that’s the case, please take care of me.” After that, Dick just lay there panting as Jason found a rhythm that hit that sweet spot, and then Dick was moaning and begging Jason to fuck him just like that.

“I got you, baby,” Jason promised, sucking on his shoulder. “I’m not stopping.”

Dick wasn’t too disappointed when Jason did come first because Jason’s grip was around his cock, pushing him to the edge. Dick was close.

That was when the doorknob jiggled and someone knocked on the door. “Someone’s in there, right?” a voice called. Dick came at the same time that his heart skipped and his veins turned icy. He spurted all over Jason’s hand.

Jason pulled out of him and Dick spun around. He mouthed to him, _“oh my god.”_

Jason looked at his hand with round eyes. Dick’s head swiveled, thinking of turning on a washer but no, those needed coins and – he yanked open the dryer and threw the first article of clothing to Jason. Jason wiped his hands and threw it back in the dryer.

The person continued trying to open the door. The two of them scrambled to put themselves together. Jason threw his used condom into a tiny trash bin and then started ripping off pieces of Dick’s duct tape to throw over it.

 _“Hello?”_ the voice called.

Their heads whipped over to the door. “It’s jammed,” Jason answered them. “I closed the door by accident, man. Neither of us have service – you think you could get somewhere to help or – Vaseline works, too, I think, if you have any.”

“Uh, yeah,” the voice said, sounding confused now. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

“Oh, my god,” Dick breathed a sigh of relief. “By the way,” he said, placing a hand on Jason’s bicep. “You really shouldn’t store condoms in your wallet. The friction can cause the material to tear.”

Jason collected the K-Y bottle. “Nah,” he said, “I don’t open my wallet that often.” He tossed the bottle into Dick’s empty hamper. “Hide that,” he directed. Dick laughed almost breathlessly, suddenly overcome with exhaustion as he transferred his clean clothes into his hamper.

“So I’m guessing dinner is a no, then, on your tight wallet?” The question was out Dick’s mouth before he could reel it back in.

Jason’s expression was surprised but not unpleasant. “Well, if you’re asking, you should be the one way to pay anyway.”

And there it was, the proposal. Dick knew Jason was waiting on him to take it further. Maybe it was bad of him, but even though it was Dick’s idea he suddenly wasn’t sure if it was a _good_ one. Dick had been involved with a lot of people over the years but rejection never got easier, whether he was doing the rejecting or being rejected. He wasn’t sure what this thing between them was or what it could be. Just earlier that week he had been thrown out of a classroom for nearly taking Jason’s head off. And sure, they could try keeping it casual, but Dick had rarely been good at that.

Dick pursed his lips, simply taking clothes out of the dryer and putting them into the hamper for some moments. “We’ll see,” he finally said. He tried not to look at Jason too long after that in case Jason looked upset or, worse, indifferent. Instead, he smiled briefly at Jason in between his laundry. “Let’s just focus on our project for now, you know?”


	4. Chapter 4

There were few things Dick genuinely enjoyed about campus life, but the cereal bar was at the top of the list for sure. It was the simple pleasure of rolling out of bed, heading to the cafeteria, and knowing there’d be a new variety of flavors to choose from each week. Today they had an assortment of Froot Loops, Lucky Charms, Raisin Bran, Cheerios (not Honey Nut, unfortunately, which meant Dick would have to add the Splenda himself), and Apple Jacks.

Dick stood, thinking. There were a lot of ways to go with this one. Raisin Bran was automatically out. Cheerios was easy enough to eliminate. But the other three? Maybe he should get Lucky Charms. It was healthier, right?

A girl next to him selected the Froot Loops. She seemed confident in her decision. Yeah, Froot Loops must be the right decision. Dick waited for her to finish before pulling down the lever and filling his Styrofoam bowl. He let go of the lever when it reached a little over halfway, but the lever stayed down, pouring Froot Loops out onto the counter. Wincing, Dick lifted the lever up to stop the flow. The lever fell back down limply. His love for the cereal bar was rapidly dwindling with each wasted loop. Dick watched, resigned, as the cereal container emptied itself completely.

A low whistle floated through the crowd and caught his attention. On instinct, Dick looked up to find the source. The whistler was none other than, naturally, his RA. Dick stared as Jason headed in his direction. He just couldn’t believe it. It was like that phenomenon where he’d learn a word he had never heard before and suddenly there that word would be, in regular use on billboards and in books and from people’s mouths. Dick had never seen Jason before in his life, but suddenly he was everywhere: in the halls, in classes, in basements, and most of all, in his head. Jason Todd was a phenomenon.

“Another casualty in your war against every functional thing on campus, huh?” said Jason as reached Dick’s zone of self-pity.

Dick pulled his bowl, which now contained a small mountain of Froot Loops, from under the cereal bar. “Rub salt in my wound, why don’t you,” he mourned.

Jason followed Dick down the island counter, his hands stuffed in his jean pockets. Dick felt abruptly inadequate in his sweatpants and hoodie. He hadn’t even brushed his hair yet and here Jason was, ready to walk the runway. “Really? You’re not gonna’ clean up your mess?” he asked when Dick grabbed a saran-wrapped blueberry bagel. Dick had become disillusioned with cereal.

Dick flicked his eyes reluctantly at the mess of Loops. “Do I have to?” he asked. If he had to clean the counter, he was going to forget the bagel and first period and just go back to bed. He would. Getting himself breakfast was the maximum amount of work he had planned for the first hour of waking up.

Jason genuinely grimaced, brows pinching and his mouth forming an uncomfortable, twitching not-smile. “I mean – I can’t _make_ you?”

Dick nodded. “Nice.” He was about to chuck his bowl in the trash when Jason grabbed his elbow and pulled it back. Dick felt warm at the contact. He still wanted to go to bed, but now he kind of wanted Jason to go with him. Jason looked like he’d be nice to sleep on.

It took Dick a moment to think to ask Jason what he was doing. “What are you doing?” he asked as Jason popped the lid off the Froot Loops cannister and poured some of Dick’s cereal back in. Then he held Dick’s bowl under the milk button on the fountain.

“Getting breakfast,” answered Jason, brushing the remaining Froot Loops onto a paper and disposing of the soiled batch. “You shouldn’t waste food like that,” he scolded.

“I was going to pay for both,” Dick defended.

“Paying to throw something out is stupid.”

“You’re stupid,” Dick grumbled, then yawned. He covered his mouth with his forearm.

Jason smirked. “You should go back to bed. You’re unfit to operate heavy machinery.”

Dick slid over to the line at the cash register. “My feet aren’t heavy machinery,” he replied.

“You’re sure dragging them like they are.” Jason dug out a wallet from his jean pockets, pulling out a few dollars. This reminded Dick about the paying part of the cash register and he plunged his hand into the deep pocket of his sweats.

“I’m tired,” Dick said as he finally retrieved his university paycard.

“My point stands.”

Dick was about to hand over his paycard when Jason’s hand shot out over his. “I’m getting us both,” Jason told the cashier. She nodded and counted out the bills.

Dick blinked slowly. “What are you doing?”

Jason accepted the change. “I’m buying us breakfast.” Jason placed his palm on Dick’s shoulder, leading them out of the line. “And look,” he said, pointing to a booth with a giant backpack marking the territory, “I reserved us a table.”

And, okay, that was pretty smooth in a tacky way – which, _okay,_ may actually be the perfect combination. Dick smiled and let himself be led to the yellow-painted table with torn-up plastic cushions. “Where’re the complementary freshly-picked flowers in a glass?” he asked.

“Don’t be smart. I’m _treating_ you,” Jason warned, practically throwing himself into the booth with his arms draped along the back and his legs spread wide like they were on the dryer.

Dick sat across from him and did his best to rein in his thoughts. He peeled the plastic off his bagel and got to work spreading the cream cheese with his plastic knife. “Today’s a special day,” Dick agreed, sticking the knife in his mouth to suck the rest of the cream cheese off. “So glad we got away from it all and sprung for luxury.”

Jason scooped a spoonful of loops into his mouth. “Only the finest,” he managed to say around the crunch of the cereal.

“So,” Dick said, scooting forward. “What’s it like being an RA?”

“You mean when I’m not being invited into people’s rooms so they can accuse me of cheating on guys I don’t know?” Jason asked immediately.

Dick pursed his lips and then nodded curtly. “Yes,” he said awkwardly. “Aside from those instances.”

Jason smirked. “Not nearly as fun.”

“Has anyone cried into your shoulder yet?” Dick asked, taking a bite of his bagel. Sweet blueberries coated his tongue, helping to perk him up.

Jason pushed his cereal around in his bowl. “Nah,” he said and took a bite. “There was this one guy, though – ”

“Yeah?”  
“— who locked himself in the laundry room and shouted loud enough that I received a noise complaint.”

Dick nodded. “Well-played,” he acknowledged. “Objectively speaking, I could see how I am one of the more annoying residents in your hall. Please don’t gossip about me to the other RAs.”

“I would absolutely do that if there weren’t confidentiality laws,” Jason replied. “As it is, your inability to do laundry stays between us, the guy who saw us at the supply closet, and the guy who heard you crying for help.”

Dick had to stop himself from thinking too much about what happened in the laundry room. He wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up, although the memory was burning his cheeks. He couldn’t seem to stop embarrassing himself in front of Jason. “That’s a relief. But what happened with the water pipe had nothing to do with my possible inability to do laundry,” he defended.

“Possible?” Jason quoted. “You’re neither confirming nor denying you can’t do laundry?”

“I can do laundry,” Dick said in a mocking voice. “I just – I didn’t learn how until I got here. This is my first time living away from home. My,” Dick didn’t want Jason to know about his guardian’s butler, “Alfred used to do the laundry,” he defaulted. “It wasn’t hard to figure out or anything. Husbands in sitcoms honestly made it out to be way more complex than it is.”

“Sitcoms are the infomercials of daytime television,” Jason agreed. “Who’s Alfred?”

“Family,” answered Dick. It wasn’t a lie; Alfred was essentially his mother. It was a vague answer, but Jason didn’t pry.

“That’s cool,” Jason commented instead. “I can’t remember when I learned to do chores. I’ve always been responsible for my own shit.” Dick couldn’t tell if Jason was just sharing personal information or making a jab at Dick. There was no change in tone, so Dick decided it wasn’t backhanded.

“That’s a good thing,” Dick praised. “I look around at the people here, some of them younger than me, and I feel like I’m behind.”

Jason shrugged. “Everyone feels like that, but I think we’re all going to be more-or-less at the same level eventually. Some of us richer than others,” he added pointedly, and Dick snorted, “but we’ll all know how to do laundry and schedule dentist appointments.”

Dick leaned back against the seat. He wondered if others thought he had a better handle than them on some things. He couldn’t fathom that, yet Jason appeared so casually sure that Dick wasn’t alone in his insecurities. “That’s comforting,” said Dick.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Dick cocked his head and smiled. Teasing, he kicked Jason’s foot under the table. “Is that all you’re here for?” he asked.

Jason’s eyebrows knitted together, which was kind of adorable in a Grumpy Care Bear way. “I’ve made it clear where I’m going with this,” he said. The straightforward response, combined with his intense gaze, was enough to have Dick folding like cards. Dick was good at flirting, not – whatever non-game Jason was playing.

“You’re, uh, pretty direct, Jay,” he informed behind a cough.

Jason crossed his arms defensively. His cereal was turning to mush in his milk. “Is that a bad thing?” he challenged, his chin jutting out a bit.

 _“No,”_ Dick nearly choked out. His hands fluttered over the table as if to reassure Jason this fake date was, surprisingly, charming his pants off. Or, at least, his emotional pants, because his literal pants had already been charmed off by Jason before. “It’s refreshing, I think,” he said, perhaps indecisively, because the real word for it was _intimidating_ and it’d be weird if he said that was a large part of Jason’s appeal at that moment.

“Okay,” was all Jason said. He was looking at Dick expectantly, his fingers tapping a rhythm on his crossed arms.

Dick rolled his eyes despite his obvious smile. “You know, _you_ could ask _me_ out,” he informed.

Jason gestured towards their Styrofoam bowl and paper plate. “I did. What do you think all this is?”

“This is not a date.”

“What is, then?”

Dick took in a breath and shook his head. “I don’t know. A movie. A walk in the park. Star-gazing.”

“We don’t have stars in Gotham,” Jason interjected.

“You can _leave_ Gotham,” Dick argued.

“Awesome.” Jason scooped more of his cereal into his mouth. “Where?”

Dick opened his mouth and then closed it, considering the answer. The docks in Bludhaven had a decent view of the stars, but they reeked of fish and pollution. “I guess there’s the beach. It’s usually clear down there,” he mused aloud.

Jason was downing his cereal bowl. When he finished, he wiped the milk off his lips. “Sounds good. I’m free Thursdays and Sundays.” To Dick’s confusion, Jason grabbed his empty bowl and stood up. “You have my number,” he reminded, promptly leaving Dick alone in the booth.

“Oh,” said Dick. He almost followed Jason but realized after a second that Jason was leaving-leaving. “Oh,” he said again, this time to himself because Jason was already at the trash bin some yards away. The not-date was over.

Dick dedicated the rest of the day to homework, every few hours typing out a text to Jason before deleting it and returning to his studies. He couldn’t think of a way to ask Jason out that didn’t seem coerced from breakfast. He _was_ being coerced, wasn’t he? But in a good way, Dick felt, because the more he thought about how to ask out Jason the more excited he was to be on the actual date. Several times, he had to restrain himself from conjuring ideas about what the night would entail. A kiss under the stars? A wild dare to dip their toes in the winter water that would inevitably lead to them running away from the tide and falling over each other in a tangled mess of limbs and lips. 

Dick’s least favorite part of dating was, for sure, how much he loved it. He never could maintain his cool whenever there was someone he wanted to know and who wanted to know him. And Jason was so _novel,_ wasn’t he? He possessed an almost James Dean-level of swagger, but with less drug use and more college extracurriculars presumably.

Dick lay down on his bed, resting his chemistry book across his stomach. “What do you think of Jason?” he asked the ceiling a tad wistfully.

Tim replied instead. “Who?”

“Todd,” Dick clarified. Dick definitely did not test out the ring of _Dick Todd_ in his head, or _Jason Grayson_ for that matter. Mostly because neither sounded very appealing. Something about the syllables was off maybe – they would have to work on that. “Jason Todd. Our RA,” Dick continued as he suddenly sat and shook his previous train of thought from his mind. Thinking of marriage was even more stupid than having sex in a Laundromat. Jason was making Dick stupid, which was either a good thing or a bad thing. Not a neutral thing, at least, he knew that.

Dick grimaced. He was overthinking.

“Uh, he’s very – professional?” answered Tim. He had a whole spread of math supplies – notebook, graphing paper, graphing calculator, pencils, big erasers, and a textbook – spread around his desk and his bed. He scratched his head. “I don’t know, man. I don’t know him. Why?”

“I’m going to ask him out.”

Tim set his pencil down in the crease of his textbook and turned his head to stare, bemused, at Dick. _“What?”_ he nearly hissed.

Dick nodded. “It’s a long story, but we – ” Christened the washer downstairs? Made love? Had a one-night stand? “ – really clicked.”

Tim’s expression was critical. “Is that such a good idea?”

Dick didn’t know how to answer that. “It’s…not…my _worst_ idea,” he bargained.

Tim’s brows were pinching. “I just think that might complicate things. There’s a barrier that shouldn’t be crossed – ”

“We’re past that,” Dick interrupted if merely to save time. “The barrier has been obliterated.”

Tim’s mouth formed an ‘o’ that probably wanted to ask for details. Dick shook his head. “Just take my word for it and leave it at that,” he urged.

“Wow,” said Tim. “So, I take it what I think of Jason doesn’t actually matter at this point?”

Dick shrugged. “If you had a strongly negative opinion of him as a person, I might be wary. But mostly, no, I just wanted to tell you that I’m going on a date.”

“I thought you still had to ask him out?”

Dick thought of the upcoming date again and smiled. “I do. But he’ll say yes.”

“Such confidence,” Tim said wryly.

Dick folded his arms under his head and leaned against the wall behind his bed. “What can I say?” he crowed. “I’m ir-re-sis-ti-ble.”

 

As irresistible as Dick surely was, he didn’t think it could hurt to bolster his charm. He texted Jason earlier to keep Thursday free and, when the fateful night arrived, he swung by a corner store to grab a single red rose engulfed in baby’s breath. He piled some blankets, snacks, and a bottle of vodka in his car, which he had to Febreze the heck out of just to remove the stale smell of French fries past.

Pushing his hair out of his face and adjusting the bouquet, he knocked on Jason’s door. A jolt of giddiness electrified his body as he heard footsteps. The door opened revealing Jason in a tight turtleneck with a leather jacket thrown over his broad shoulders. His thighs seemed to have been poured into his dark-washed jeans.

“Satisfied with the once-over?” came Jason’s raspy, sardonic voice.

Dick’s eyes snapped up to Jason’s handsome face. He held the bouquet up. “Rose for a rose?” he said lamely.

Jason stared down at Dick and seemed to be really considering the gift. Dick shifted his weight awkwardly and began to doubt how in-the-bag this date was. Eventually, though, Jason _did_ accept the bouquet with a little smile. “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” he quoted, emphatically dipping his nose into the waxen petals.

Dick chuckled. “That’s always good news when your name is Dick,” he jested. Then he held out his arm for Jason to take. “Come, Shakespeare, our chariot awaits.”

Jason gave Dick’s a single glance before scoffing and closing the door behind him. He did not take Dick’s arm but instead motioned for Dick to keep walking. “Lead the way,” he said, adding more quietly, “In fair Gotham where we lay our scene.”

Dick glanced at him as they walked down the hall. “So, like, you know Shakespeare?” he asked, hoping to kickstart the conversation. He hated gaps in conversation on dates.

Jason shook his head, affecting a baffled expression. “That’s Shakespeare? Thought that was Michael Bay.”

“Alright, smartass.”

Jason grinned. His smiles were always so open and honest, and yet seemed to contain a jagged edge to them even in their happiness. “I’m an English major,” he explained.

“Criminal justice,” Dick replied. Jason looked like he wanted to say something about that, but he didn’t. Dick figured Jason said enough things aloud to justify not pressing the things he didn’t say. “What’s your favorite book?” he hastened to ask.

Jason quirked an eyebrow. “What’s your favorite statute?” he fired back.

Dick couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity. “I don’t think they’re the same,” he argued.

Jason shrugged. “I reread _Frankenstein_ a lot.”

Dick remembered reading that in the eleventh grade. He could not fathom anyone reading that for fun, but he wasn’t going to risk sharing that opinion. For all Jason’s projected nonchalance, the shrug was too quick to be real and his voice sounded certain.

Dick nodded congenially as he opened the door that led them out into the common room. “I like non-fiction books,” he said. That sounded super boring, so he scrambled for a book he had read that didn’t sound like it was assigned to him in high school. “ _Water for Elephants_ was cool.”

“The circus movie?”

Dick sniffed sensitively. “I read the book too.” After he had watched the movie, of course.

Jason clucked his tongue. “That’s right,” he mused. “You were in the circus as a kid, right? Before you were adopted?”

Dick felt himself stiffen and made the conscious effort to relax. Everyone knew about him in high school, but college had proven more laidback. His history wasn’t as popularly brought up by classmates. “Yeah,” he said mechanically. “The Flying Graysons.”

Jason’s eyes were heavy on Dick. “Sorry if that ruins some of your mystique,” he said, words lighter than his tone. “If it makes you feel any better, everything I learned about you was entirely against my will.”

Dick laughed abruptly. And he did feel better. “I regret those smoothie commercials I child-starred in more every day.”

“You should. They were awful.”

This time, Jason opened the door and they were outside, walking side-by-side into the brisk air of the parking lot. Predictably, there weren’t any stars visible in the sky. The only lights above came from the harsh yellow streetlamps bearing down on them. Nonetheless, there was a kinesthetic spark in the air, an energizing reminder of what was happening and could happen. Dick once again was thinking of his hands in Jason’s hair, Jason’s mouth on his, their legs tangling –

“The car’s this way,” said Dick, quickening his step. Jason kept pace with him. Around them, students milled about in university sweatshirts and headphones. Cars started up and pulled out. The campus was alive. Dick’s feet practically floated in the air with each step he took.

When they arrived at his car, Dick opened the passenger door. Jason’s signature smirk found its home on his face yet again, making Dick feel confident and flustered all at once. “So, Mr. Todd,” said Dick, bowing for good measure. Jason rolled his eyes. “Are you ready for our date?”

“Get in the car and drive, Dick,” he said, perhaps unimpressed, ducking into the seat. His hands had brushed Dick’s where they lay on the top of the open door.

Dick saluted him goofily. “Yes, sir,” he acquiesced. He shut the door, cutting off Jason’s embarrassed groan so he could round the car to the driver’s side. Before opening his door, however, he pressed his nose against the window and gave a thumbs-up.

Jason, for his part, glared at him. His dark eyes sent shivers up Dick’s spine. He was so, so beautiful, Dick thought. He could stare at Jason forever from the outside of his car through the hazy glass, and he must’ve been coming close to that because Jason leaned over and tapped the horn in quick succession. “Hurry up,” he ordered.

Dick swung the door open and pushed Jason’s white bangs from his eyes in one fluid motion. “Patience,” he tutted. Jason’s expression was surprised. He didn’t move as Dick settled in properly and buckled himself in. He started the engine. “Ready?”

As if broken from a spell, Jason pulled away and crossed his arms. “Yes, I’m ready. At this speed, we’re going to miss the stars, dude.”

Dick dug his iPod out, turning the Bluetooth on. “Any song requests?” he checked.

Jason flung his arm out. _“Drive!”_

Dick rapidly typed “Shut Up And Drive” into his search bar. The music started with a bark of laughter from Jason as Dick threw the gear into reverse and sped out.


End file.
